Gear fatigue cured

[deeaa]

Well, since we haven't had much band practice at all I've been visiting music shops a few times and tested amps...even posted a tentative swap ad myself, looking for a Marshall JVM...then I played the Laboga Caiman some (what a great amph!) and some Blackstars (nice) and the H&K TubeMeister again (loved it!) and I almost bought one as there was one used for 430;-

But then I luckily went to our facility and played my Ceria right after visiting the stores...and yep, GAS cured...it's just so insanely much better than any of the above there is no contest. No need for drives even, also the cleans sustain, ring and scream well enough to easily solo. And the punch and air movement...beats the hell out of lesser bass rigs. I made a few subtle changes, adding one more distorted 'channel' using the Carl Martin switcher, for insanely driven solos&tapping etc. style...and, yeah, gotta say, despite the slight complicateness of the system, it just sounds so insane there is no contest. But then again, how could an all-tube, point-to-point wired super quality parts amp not sound good, especially when it has real 60's preamp tubes and real 60's Greenbacks in the cab :-)

Well enough boasting...but I do sincerely hope everyone here could get a chance to experience how great that kind of good EL84 amp can really sound thru a 4x12" and full blast...

Now that GAS was cured I went ahead and bought a second car for us...an old Fiat Punto :-) but driven only 59.000 miles& just had some work like brakes andtiming belt etc. done and passed inspection easily:
http://www.subzeroautomotive.com/members/1644123/uploaded/fiat-punto-2.jpg

Exactly like this but not green, light blue. Should make for a decent shopping bag!

[Ch0jin]

Cool to hear. I'm about to kick off a home made JTM 45 project because I want to put something tasty in this old 60's head shell I have, but I have had my eyes on a Ceriatone of some kind for years now. Always good to hear another glowing report.

[deeaa]

I think any good quality ptp EL84 amp would sound much the same. They're just so simple, nothing but a good transformer, a few quality caps and such, and them tubes.

The downside to this type of super-simplistic amps is that they do kinda require very good tubes too. On a modern amp it's usually pretty hard to hear much any differences in even preamp tubes, as they're designed from the ground up to use modern tube types, but these simple old-skool beasts, they reveal any imperfections and differences in tubes quite cruelly. Especially the 1st preamp tube...you put in a modern, basic-level 12ax7, it can sound quite harsh and buzzy and not mask any possible ugly overtones, but throw in a NOS tube or a good, warm Mullard copy, it sounds completely different, just super sweet.

I don't see that much a difference in other than each channel's 1st tube, but those are definitely worth putting a good one in. I've used an old Siemens tube from circa 1967 for 2 years now, and I'd really have to get a similar one for the 'clean' channel as well; I have an 80's tube on it and it has a slight buzzy overtone in the very high frequencies the Siemens doesn't.

[Ch0jin]

Yeah tubes are on my to do list too. My 60W Peavey has been packing the same Chinese no brand 12AX7's since new (1992) and a pair of Sovtek 6L6's that are about a year younger. All could likely do with replacement. Add to that my JTM45 build and I have a decent sized tube order to throw at someone.

I had 4 12AX7's in an old (1960's) bass head (the head I'm building a JTM inside of), but three of them are completely non-functional and the fourth is microphonic as hell so there goes my 'vintage' tube collection ;)

[deeaa]

Yep the Peavey likely isn't as particular about the glass, but for the JTM build, definitely spring for at least one very good tube for the 1st position and good ones all over...

[Eric]

Cool. I drove a Fiat Punto that we rented earlier this year when we were on vacation in Croatia. It seemed like a pretty decent little car. HNCD!

[deeaa]

Them italian cars tend to have a rather poor finishing, and there's apparently a good number of lemons around too, which means they lose their value FAST when new.

But, you can get a used one for very very cheap indeed, and if you just find a nice specimen, they're quite handy, surprisingly good handlers and have galvanized baseplates etc...so they can be rather reliable and rust-free cars, perfect for shopping bags I think. Small economical engines, too. Just have to be ready for all kinds of cheap car troubles like doors freezing shut, seatbelts hanging loose, radio not working, one door needing an extra push to shut well, no A/C etc...but who cares when it's basically needed for driving less than 5 miles every now and then, always in the city.

Usually we go to work by bike or foot, just a mile or so, but for those days it rains or you need to lug the kids somewhere in the middle of the day, it'll be perfect, much easier than catching a bus, and not much more expensive even, ultimately.

This weekend is a perfect example - wife & one kid goes to see relatives so we'd be pretty much stuck at home or at the mercy of public transport, but now we can just zoom to a store etc. if need be without trouble.

I always thought I'd never get two cars, considered it just laziness and not a good idea, but when you have more than one kid, it's been getting really awkward at times with all kinds of 'I'll bring the car to your workplace at lunch, cycle back to my work, and then pick it up at three again, and we'll go pick the bike up in the evening from my work' schemes which are always really hard to organize...

[Eric]

I always thought I'd never get two cars, considered it just laziness and not a good idea, but when you have more than one kid, it's been getting really awkward at times with all kinds of 'I'll bring the car to your workplace at lunch, cycle back to my work, and then pick it up at three again, and we'll go pick the bike up in the evening from my work' schemes which are always really hard to organize...
Makes sense. We only have one car right now, and my wife and I would both prefer to keep it that way, but I'm not sure if it will be viable in the long haul. If you want to live in an area with dense enough population to where you don't need a car, you're either living in the ghetto or million-dollar houses a lot of the time. Things outside of cities tend to be built on the assumption you'll have a car, so I guess I'm just preparing myself for that day.

It's like they say (I think): If you've got a car, you've got a car problem. If you've got two cars, you've got three car problems...